Business

Mini-Case Euro Appreciation Hurts Southern European Exports Southern European countries (e.g., Spain, Greece, Italy, and Portugal) traditionally export lowtech manufactured items such as textiles, toys, and footwear that are in direct competition with inexpensive goods from China. The steady strengthening of the euro from 2002 through 2004 made exports from these countries more expensive and […]

Operating Exposure A real exchange rate change affects a number of aspects of the firm’s operations. With respect to dollar (HC) appreciation, the key issue for a domestic firm is its degree of pricing flexibility—that is, can the firm maintain its dollar margins both at home and abroad? Can the company maintain its dollar price

Transaction Exposure Transaction exposure arises out of the various types of transactions that require settlement in a foreign currency. Examples are cross-border trade, borrowing and lending in foreign currencies, and the local purchasing and sales activities of foreign subsidiaries. Strictly speaking, of course, the items already on a firm’s balance sheet, such as loans and

The Economic Consequences of Exchange Rate Changes We now examine more closely the specifics of a firm’s economic exposure. Solely for the purpose of exposition, the discussion of exposure is divided into its component parts: transaction exposure and real operating exposure. Place Your Order Here!

Nominal and Real Exchange Rates for chile, 1979-1982 An 18% “corrective” devaluation was enacted in June 1982. Overall, the peso fell 90% over the next 12 months. However, the artificially high peso had already done its double damage to the Chilean economy: It made Chile’s manufactured products more expensive abroad, pricing many of them out

Application Chile Mismanages Its Exchange Rate Chile provides particularly dramatic illustration of the unfortunate effects of a fixed nominal exchange rate combined with high domestic inflation. As part of its plan to bring down the rate of Chilean inflation, the government fixed the exchange rate in the middle of 1979 at 39 pesos to the

The Effects of Real Exchange Rate Changes on the Brazilian Shoe Manufacturer In order to preserve its dollar profit margin (but not its inflation-adjusted real margin), the firm will have to raise its price to $14. (Why?1) But if it does that, it will be placed at a competitive disadvantage. By contrast, scenario 2 shows

Application Yen Appreciation Harms Japanese TV Producers For most of 1985, the yen traded at about ¥240 = $1. By 1995, the yen’s value had risen to about ¥90 = $1, without a commensurate increase in U.S. inflation. This rise had a highly negative impact on Japanese television manufacturers. If it cost, say, ¥100,000 to

Competitive Effects of Real Exchange Rate Changes In general, a decline in the real value of a nation’s currency makes its exports and import-competing goods more competitive. Conversely, an appreciating currency hurts the nation’s exporters and those producers competing with imports. When the real value of the dollar began rising against other currencies during the

The Effects of Nominal Exchange Rate Changes and Inflation on Apex Philippines *Peso prices and costs are assumed to increase at the 20% rate of Philippine inflation. Of course, the conclusion in the Apex Philippines application does not hold if the firm enters into contracts fixed in terms of the foreign currency. Examples of such